Blog Posts by CookingLight.com

Put your homegrown herbs and vegetable bounty to good use this summer with these fresh-from-the-garden recipes.

We asked our fans on Facebook, "What's growing in your kitchen garden this year?" and were inspired and delighted by all the delicious fresh fruits, veggies, and herbs you have growing in your own backyards. In honor of the summer kitchen garden, we've compiled a collection of recipes featuring the best that summer has to offer: tomatoes, assorted peppers, cucumbers, eggplant, lavender, basil, summer squashes, and much more.

Don't Miss:
Protein-Packed Salads
Seafood Salads
Veggie Salads

Taste Test: Pickles

Our pickle picks: the best bread-and-butter chips and dill spears.

Calorie counts on pickle labels are so low that these crunchy treats seem like the perfect summer picnic, snack, and sandwich addition-8 calories per serving on one label we saw. But, no surprise, salt can be an issue: 569mg of sodium for that same single dill spear. Salt acts as a natural preservative during the pickling process, and dill pickles have especially high levels because extra salt is added for flavor. Still, it's possible to pick pickles with paltry salt. For our testing, we only tasted contenders with less than 230mg for chips and 300mg for spears.

Take a close look at how the label defines a serving size, though. The number of chips in a 1-ounce serving varied from three to eight on brands we checked. As for spears, the nutrition numbers may not even apply to a whole pickle; we found several brands that listed serving sizes as two-thirds or three-quarters of a spear.

See More: Healthy

Chicken and Waffle Sandwiches

Breakfast meets dinner in this play on the Southern favorite. What's not to love about a fun sandwich?

Chicken and Waffle Sandwiches

Ingredients

4 slices lower-sodium bacon, halved crosswise
3 tablespoons canola mayonnaise
1 tablespoon low-fat buttermilk
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
8 frozen whole-grain waffles, toasted
6 ounces thinly sliced, lower-sodium deli chicken breast
8 (1/4-inch-thick) slices ripe tomato
4 Boston lettuce leaves

See More: Superfast Kid-Friendly Recipes

Preparation

1. Cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Drain on paper towels.

2. Combine mayonnaise and the next 5 ingredients (through black pepper) in a small bowl.

3. Spread mayonnaise mixture evenly over 4 waffles. Divide chicken, bacon, tomato, and lettuce evenly among servings. Top with remaining waffles.

Creamy, zippy citrus meets nutty cookie goodness. By Sidney Fry, MS, RD

Refreshingly tangy and buttery-crisp ... somehow the puckery citrus makes a good lemon square seem lighter than it really is. Typical recipes call for a full cup of butter and 1½ pounds of sugar-adding up to more than 300 calories in one little square.

Lightening was tricky but, luckily, our mission was accomplished. We created a healthier, lighter lemon square that retains the flavor and soul of the original.

Classic
• 319 calories per square
• 6.3 grams saturated fat
• 11 grams total fat

Makeover
• 124 calories per square
• 1.3 grams saturated fat
• 5 grams total fat

Don't Miss:
Peach Turnover Recipe Makeover
Pound Cake Recipe Makeover
Banana Pudding Recipe Makeover

Ice Cream Scoops

There are a number of label terms for light ice cream. See if they induce brain freeze.

LOW-FAT
Simple enough: A half-cup serving must contain no more than 3g total fat. Ice creams that don't meet that standard can still be called "reduced-fat" or "light" if they meet those definitions.

WHIPPED
Not a nutrition claim but a process that often indicates less fat. Air is added during the churning process-a technique long used to reduce fat and calories-but new technologies reduce the size of fat globules and ice crystals, yielding a creamy consistency. Total fat tends to be in the 3g to 4g zone-somewhere between low-fat and light.

See More: Homemade Ice Cream Recipes

REDUCED-FAT
Contains 25% less total fat than a brand's original version. The more fat in the original version, the more in the reduced-fat version. We found a reduced-fat version with 6g total fat and 4g sat fat per half-cup. Another had 5g total fat and 3g sat fat.

LIGHT
How's this

Lettuce leaves offer a light, fresh alternative to pita or flatbread. If you can't find red pepper hummus, plain hummus is a welcome substitute.

See More: Superfast Mediterranean Recipes

Crisp Lamb Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients

2 teaspoons canola oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
6 ounces lean ground lamb
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup chopped tomato
1/2 cup chopped cucumber
1/4 cup plain fat-free Greek yogurt
1/4 cup red pepper hummus (such as Tribe)
8 Boston lettuce leaves
2 tablespoons torn mint leaves
1 tablespoon pine nuts, toasted

See More: Superfast Sides

Preparation

1. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion and next 5 ingredients (through lamb) to pan; sauté 5 minutes or until lamb is done. Combine parsley, tomato, and cucumber in a medium bowl. Stir in

We're following the torch to England for the 2012 Summer Olympics. So, take a jaunt across the pond with us as we explore classic British recipes.

Don't Miss:
The Olympic Athlete Diet
Hidden Gems and Delicious Destinations
Healthy and Hungry in Las Vegas

Five nutrition experts working with Olympic athletes share their health secrets and a favorite recipe to help you customize your workout. By: Patricia Bannan, MS, RD

For Olympic athletes, training and competing is a way of life, so properly fueling their bodies is critically important to their success. It's not uncommon for an athlete to train up to 6 hours per day, 6 days per week. While that's likely quite a bit more than the average person's typical activity regimen, eating like an Olympian may benefit you too. Five gold medal-grade nutritionists dish out their famous clients' diet secrets and advice for us average Joes.

Don't Miss:
Best Fitness Gear and Gadgets
Lunchtime Workout Strength Moves
Cardio-Friendly Foods